Children below a certain age are completely incapable of understanding simplified and abstracted relationships that are not directly their own. Escpecially not when its in the shape of animated 2D characters on a screen. Death is something you dont even start conceptualizing until like 4 years old.
My daughter was 3 when she was watching me play Final Fantasy 4. Cid jumped out of the airship and blew himself up.
She screamed turn it off and ran out of the room. We found her crying in the corner of the room and her mum asked what happened. In between sobbing she choked out “… Cid…” and that was all she could say until she calmed down.
That’s just one example. Plenty of other times she’s just covered her eyes and said she doesn’t want to watch anymore if people are arguing on screen, or a death is involved.
So you don’t think it just may have been scary? Kids get scared early on, but being able to imagine what other people are feeling, and therefore feeling that too (empathy) comes later
Also, everyone develops differently. Its possible that 3 year old did understand the situation, but its also possible they didn’t. Everyone develops different things at different rates and that’s OK.
![Funny Feeling [Litterbox Comics]](https://lemmy.sdf.org/pictrs/image/ce0fea86-052d-4fa4-a272-1c0dfd46e5be.png){kind=link}
No.
Children below a certain age are completely incapable of understanding simplified and abstracted relationships that are not directly their own. Escpecially not when its in the shape of animated 2D characters on a screen. Death is something you dont even start conceptualizing until like 4 years old.
I call bullshit.
My daughter was 3 when she was watching me play Final Fantasy 4. Cid jumped out of the airship and blew himself up.
She screamed turn it off and ran out of the room. We found her crying in the corner of the room and her mum asked what happened. In between sobbing she choked out “… Cid…” and that was all she could say until she calmed down.
That’s just one example. Plenty of other times she’s just covered her eyes and said she doesn’t want to watch anymore if people are arguing on screen, or a death is involved.
So you don’t think it just may have been scary? Kids get scared early on, but being able to imagine what other people are feeling, and therefore feeling that too (empathy) comes later
Also, everyone develops differently. Its possible that 3 year old did understand the situation, but its also possible they didn’t. Everyone develops different things at different rates and that’s OK.